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In or Out


Lily sat alone at the end of the Gryffindor table, keeping very careful attention on her food, trying not to see Ali Prewitt laughing happily as she talked with Frank and the others on the Quidditch team about the upcoming game that would be played on the first of February. She nibbled on a bit of toast. Part of her wanted to just go over and apologize, but another part was so very stubborn feeling because she was still angry that Petunia’s brief moment of acting like a sister toward her had been so horribly tarnished by the way the day at the cinema had gone. And honestly, looking a James, Lily did feel a bit guilty. She really should have paid him better attention, after all the whole thing had been to make up for stirring up trouble between James and Severus, and she’d turned it into something else entirely. She still owed Potter an apology, as well as Ali and Frank, but she felt embarrassed… So she sat alone.

She’d been unusually quiet in classes since returning to Hogwarts, and McGonagall had noticed, pulling her aside one afternoon the week before, after Transfiguration. “Is everything alright, Miss. Evans?” the head of house had asked with concern.

“Yes, Professor,” Lily had lied. Although Professor McGonagall had dropped the subject then, Lily got the feeling that perhaps she knew better and was keeping an eye on her just the same.

Really, the only interaction Lily had had with anyone was during the usual study sessions in the common room, but even those had been far less social and more about the work lately. Lily had barely spoken during them, and Remus only showed up to half of them these days, spending half of his study time upstairs in the dorm, working with Sirius Black instead. In fact, Peter had probably become the only one of the four Marauders, at least, that had had any sort of steady interaction with Lily and the majority of that was checking his answers against hers on practice tests in the book or else having her read his papers.

Now, Lily sighed and, seeing the other fourth years getting up to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily collected her things and, abandoning breakfast as a bad job after only a few bites, she trailed along behind the four boys, who were talking in low voices to one another as they walked to the classroom. Remus kept stealing glances back at her, but whatever it was they were talking about must’ve been important, for he didn’t break away to come see her.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was cleaning off the chalkboard when the five of them arrived and he barely looked up as their stools scraped the floor as they sat down. When he turned around from the board, he said, “Today, we’ll be learning about ---” he stopped, seeing James had his hand up already. “Yes?” he asked.

“Sir, I have a question.”

“Ask it, Potter.”

James cleared his throat and looked about the other four a moment, then, with an encouraging nod from Sirius, James asked, “Kingsley, say a man were being attacked by visions…”

“By visions?” Kingsley’s brow furrowed and he tilted his head slightly to one side, “How do you mean?”

“Say a seer was… implanting visions, like maliciously… Bad visions. Visions that never happened, but are meant to torture a man’s mind… How would one go about… I dunno, blocking those visions?”

Lily stared over at James as he spoke, concerned. What was he on about? She wondered.

Kingsley seemed to be wondering exactly the same thing, “What is this in reference to?”

“I’m doing a paper due for Professor Mopsus,” replied James, “And I had this thought and I was curious. I know you’re brilliant at Defense - being a junior auror and all, working with Moody and his lot - you’re possibly the best Defense teacher Hogwarts has ever had…”

“Enough with the flattery,” Kingsley said thickly.

James flushed. “Well. Anyway. Do you know? How to block it, I mean?”

Kingsley rubbed his chin. “To be entirely honest, I’m not sure. Is there a reason that you haven’t asked Professor Mopsus himself? I reckon that questions about Divination should be best directed to the Divination professor…”

“How can you be unsure? You’re the Defense teacher and this would certainly be defense. I mean, these visions… they’re really terrible,” James pressed.

“Is something going on, Potter?” Kingsley asked.

Lily was looking quite suspiciously in their direction, too. She knew the look on Potter’s face, recognized the way Remus was carefully not making eye contact and Sirius was leaning back in his chair interested but trying to look as though he wasn’t… even Peter was chewing his lower lip. Those boys were up to no good -- there wasn’t a doubt in her mind.

“There’s nothing going on,” James said, “It’s just that we -- I -- was wondering.”

Kingsley nodded slowly. “I would recommend talking to Professor Mopsus about it.”

“Yes sir…” James hesitated, then, “Sir… Mopsus is… a bit odd, don’t you think?”

Kingsley had withdrawn slides from the drawer for the projector. “Odd?” he asked, opening the box and slipping the slides into their place. He looked at James, eyebrow raised.

“Bit… creepy?”

“He’s certainly, er, unconventional,” Kingsley replied.

“So you’ve noticed, then?” James asked.

Kingsley stared at James for a long, withering moment. James picked at his quill nervously. “Rest assured, Potter, that I am quite aware of Mopsus and his… oddities. Now. Can we get on with the lesson?”

“Yes, sir,” James replied.

“Very good.” Kingsley turned the projector on. “Nox,” he called, waving his wand at the torches that lit the room and they were plunged into the lesson.

The moment it was over, Lily gathered her things and hurried out into the hall, but waited there in ambush. As the four Marauders came out, murmuring, their heads together, Lily descended upon them. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

James looked down at his trainers.

Sirius grinned, “Oh Evans. Why must there always be something going on?” he asked.

“Because there obviously is,” Lily replied, “And I want to know what it is. That question was about as theoretical as the giant squid is dry.”

“Blimey, can the giant squid live through being dried up?” Sirius asked, “Reckon he’d become a giant salty raisin?”

“Sirius --” Lily’s voice was a warning tone.

Sirius grinned, “Don’t worry your pretty little head, I’ll see to it that the squid is kept properly hydrated. Now… if you’ll pardon us…”

Lily stood her ground, blocking his path directly. “Not ‘til you tell me what’s going on.”

James looked up, “Evans, you can’t expect to have it both ways - either you want us to be your friend or you want us to go away. Which is it?.” He stared at her solidly from behind his thick rimmed glasses, and his eyes were quite shiny and dark in color and he stared at her hard.

She knew she ought to say sorry… knew this was the moment for it… that it was what he expected… but she didn’t know how to say it without making his ego explode to insufferable levels. Lily pursed her lips. “I --”

“Well, Evans? In or out?” James demanded hotly.

Pressured, Lily teetered on the edge of both words, and then, without saying a word, she turned and walked away. She was on the verge of crying, but she refused to let James see that. She stormed down the hallway and disappeared.

James watched her go, his mouth a straight line, concerned as much as he was annoyed.

Sirius watched her go, too, and the moment she’d turned the end of the corridor, he turned back to the other three. “Well a fat lot of good Kingsley was.”

Remus said, “I’m think we ought to go to the library and see if we can find -- why are you shaking your head?”

“Because,” Sirius said, who had been shaking his head, “The library will take eons to find answers from. Let’s go to the Divination classroom.”

“The Divination classroom! Are you mad?” Peter exclaimed, “I thought we decided we were going to avoid Mopsus and not ask him about this load?” he looked nervous, “What if he gets mad and explodes my brains?” he clutched onto the nearest thing he could find - Remus’s arm.

Sirius said, “Who said anything about talking to Mopsus?”

Remus made a face, “Are you suggesting that we --”

“Break into the Divination classroom at night and snoop about and see if we can’t find evidence that incriminates the Blind Seer against what he’s done and what he’s planning to do?” Sirius supplemented.

“I was going to leave it at break into the Divination classroom, but since you’ve gone ahead and divulged the whole plan, I’m even more inclined to say what I was going to --” Remus looked him squarely in the eyes,”Sirius, this is a horrible idea and we shouldn’t do it.”

Sirius grinned, “I knew you were going to say that, Moony-kins…”

“I’m serious.”

“No, I am,” Sirius answered, eyes glinting with amusement as his lip quirked up, “C’mon. What’s wrong with the plan?” He looked at Peter and James, “We sneak in at night, use the invisibility cloak. We keep tabs on who’s where on the Marauders’ Map, and we have a bit of a look-see. See what we can find out about what Mopsus is really up to. Once we’ve got all the evidence we need, then we go to Dumbledore and tell him everything. Dumbledore then takes care of Mopsus and we’re all done. Bada-bing, bada-boom. Just like that. It’s the least dangerous plan I’ve ever had, really. Fool proof.”

Remus said, “No offense, Sirius, but -- not one of your plans have gone the way you’ve planned them yet in all the time I’ve known you.”

James looked at Remus, “I mean… it sounds pretty solid to me.”

“Except for the fact that Mopsus is a seer, and he probably knows right now what we’re planning,” Peter pointed out.

“Peeeeter, he’s a phony, how many times do I gotta say that?” Sirius asked. “I mean, he’s a very good phony, but he’s still a phony!”

Peter was wringing his hands nervously.

“C’mon you lot, don’t you wanna solve this mystery?” Sirius demanded.

“I’m in,” James said quickly.

Remus rubbed his forehead and eyes with his splayed palm, “Sirius, I swear it if this one gets us nearly killed like all your other hairbrained schemes have…”

Sirius grinned, “C’mon, babe, it’ll be alright…”

“It better be,” Remus murmured.

“Does this mean I can count you in?”

Remus peered between his fingertips at Sirius, “You know I’m not going to let you go up there without me, if for nothing else to keep an eye on you that you’re safe.”

Sirius grinned. “Love you too, Moony-kins.”

They all looked at Peter.

Peter looked terrified.

“I mean, it’s all for you, mate,” Sirius said, “Seems a shame if you’re not there for it.”

“Oh hell.” Peter murmured, “I’m in.”

Sirius grinned, “Tonight,” he said solemnly.

Round the corner of the corridor, Lily Evans was holding her breath, her eyes wide, listening...